The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has announced the composition of the crew that will fly around the moon in November 2024 as part of the Artemis II mission, the second stage of the Artemis program. During the next, third stage, the Artemis III lunar mission, astronauts will land on the surface of the Earth’s natural satellite.
Image Source: NASA
The crew for the upcoming lunar mission included Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, First Mission Specialist Christina Hammock Koch, and Second Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen.
For crew commander Wiseman, this will be the second flight into space. From May to November 2014, he worked as a flight engineer at the International Space Station during Expedition 41. Wiseman has spent over 165 days in space. Prior to his current appointment, he served as Chief of the Astronaut Office from December 2020 to November 2022. This is NASA’s top management position for active astronauts.
This is the second spaceflight for Glover, who was previously a pilot on NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 spacecraft that carried astronauts to the ISS, where they stayed for 168 days. As a flight engineer on board the ISS as part of Expedition 64, he took part in scientific research, and also participated in four spacewalks.
Cook will also make his second spaceflight as part of the Artemis II mission. She served as a flight engineer on the ISS during Expeditions 59, 60, and 61. Koch held the record for the longest stay by a woman in space at 328 days, and participated in the first space walks by two female astronauts.
For Canadian astronaut Hansen, this is the first flight into space. As a Colonel in the Canadian Forces, former fighter pilot Hansen earned a Bachelor of Science in Space Science from the Royal Canadian Military College in Kingston, Ontario, and a Master of Science in Physics from the same institution in 2000, with a focus on research in wide field of view satellite tracking. (Wide Field of View Satellite Tracking).
Artemis II will be the first manned mission to leave Earth orbit since Apollo 17, the last moon landing mission in December 1972.
The launch of the Artemis III mission will take place no earlier than December 2025, after the SpaceX lunar lander Starship Human Landing System and the new lunar spacesuits from Axiom Space have been tested.
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